My husband, Dick, and I own a condo in Kapaa, Kauai and we usually spend a month or more there in the winter. This year I thought I'd go searching for daylilies. I'm including some pictures of the ones I found.  To summarize......there weren't many on the island that I could locate.

A couple of years ago my husband and I visited the Na' Aina Kai Botanical Gardens on the Northern shore of Kauai.  The first wife of Charles Schulz (the "peanuts" creator) had a dream and vision to create 240 acres of tropical gardens, a desert garden, and sculptures all scrupulously maintained. The tour had an excellent guide. However, she didn't know anything about daylilies. I saw some interesting looking coral flowers that looked like Amaryllis but they didn't have any foliage - just a grouping of the flowers on top of a tall stem.  I asked what they were and the guide said, "Oh, those are Hawaiian Daylilies".  I really didn't believe her but thought I would look it up when I returned to the gift shop which had various books on Hawaiian flowers. I found a picture of the exact flower and they were called "Naked Ladies". They are a type of Amaryllis. And they appear after a rain on the island, as we have noticed every time we have visited there.

The same year I walked by a resort, where a group of gardeners were planting our beloved flower, the daylily. I stopped and asked them what kind and where they had bought them. All they answered was "They are called daylilies and we got them from the Big Island". That was three years ago and every year I walk by that resort to get my fix of daylilies.  They haven't grown very well, but were blooming this year. I've attached a picture of an older type of red daylily and a small light orange with a red eye.

While traveling south of Kapaa on Kauai this time, I actually saw a group of another, older type of very pretty golden dayliies. I finally felt I got my daylily fix. Dick stopped the car for us to walk around them and photograph them. I've attached the pictures that I took.

So my Kauai daylily report isn't too exciting. But next January when I return I'll keep looking. We met with Kyle Billadeau (AHS Treasurer) and her husband while we were there. And she said she hadn't seen any daylilies growing. What is strange is that Kauai is called The Garden Island.

I have now returned home to New Mexico and am anxiously awaiting my daylily season. We usually don't get any daylilies until June. But as I was weeding today (April 23rd) I noticed I already have two scapes.  We usually get a freeze at the end of April or beginning of May. We'll see how the daylilies respond when that happens. 

I hope many of you have registered for the National Convention.  I'll see you there.

Now for one of the most fun events I participate in during spring, the Central Iowa Daylilies Society 'Pollen Dabbers'. What a wonderful time we had on March 16th & 17th, 2012! Invited speakers were our great teacher and friend, Nikki Schmith, Heidi and Charles Douglas of Browns Ferry Gardens. We had a rich exchange of information and daylily pictures. Many new hybridizers in Region One showed their pictures of their first daylily seedlings. How exciting to cheer our newbie's on in their search for their dream flowers.

I wanted to share a couple of pictures of Pollen Dabbers 2012. The group! a few are missing as they were taking pictures. How you have all heard of Lee Pickles and his love a fair with Iowa Midrites so I needed to add this one as well.

Attending meetings, events, gatherings, Regional, National, whatever you want to call our 'family' get-gathers there is always fun, excitement, sharing of information and friendships that last a life time.

Until till the next time,

Nan Ripley, Director Region One

Walkabout Gardens

Our botanical diversity provides plenty of opportunity for photography—from discrete flower parts to entire landscapes! Landscape and daylily photos taken in my own yard are my top candidates for entries in the AHS photo contest. Entering the contest is easy, and is something everyone should try no matter where you live.

One possible downside of growing daylilies in the PNW is that we are faced with a spreading population of the Hemerocallis gall midge, (Contarinia quinquenotata). This pest was imported from Europe to British Columbia over ten years ago and has recently flown across the Canada-US border to south of Seattle. For us who live in southern Washington or Oregon, it’s not a matter of "if” but "when”. So far, the best control is to pick and destroy infected buds, which house the larvae. Please consult the Daylily Dictionary at http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_dictionary/gallmidge.html for more information. Of course, bud picking may be nearly impossible for commercial growers or others with a large inventory to accomplish. The AHS Scientific Studies Committee (SSC), of which I am chair, is hoping that the research project being partially funded by the AHS will yield some useful results. See the link to the researchers’ web site at http://www.daylilies.org/AHSgrants.html.

SSC has been actively adding new terms and updating older definitions in the Daylily Dictionary. If you have questions about botanic or horticultural aspects of daylilies, you might look there for information that could answer your questions. If your questions are still not answered, you might post them on one of the daylily forums, or you are welcome to consult our committee. Just send your inquiry to science@daylilies.org.

As Exhibitions Chair, I have started the year off with a bang.  I have already been mailing out preliminary show packages as well as processing requests for Certificates of Insurance thanks to the help and organization of outgoing Chair, Gisela Meckstroth. I'm looking forward to hearing from all the clubs who will be sponsoring shows this year or holding meetings/sales in locations that require proof of AHS insurance. Updated applications/info/forms are already on the AHS website, under Daylily Show Materials and shortly they will also be available on the Portal. Just a reminder that you may now download the new "Exhibiting Daylilies" Handbook, too. If you have questions, do not hesitate to call or email.

Hope to see all of you in Columbus. We will be having an Exhibition Show Workshop and Nikki Schmith will have a presentation that will make you want to go right home and set up your own show.  Wishing everyone a fantastic daylily season.

My job as Director is Awards and Honors Chair and my responsibilities are to administer the AHS Awards and Honors program. Garden Judges will be mailing their awards and honors ballots to me this summer; nominations for Regional Service Awards, Moldovan Mentoring Award, Bertrand Farr Award and Helen Field Fisher Award will come to me AND if you attend the National Convention this summer, I will have the honor of presenting many of the awards. It's pretty darn exciting! If you have any questions about the AHS Awards and Honors Program, please contact me. Hope to see you this summer in Columbus.

I am the AHS-Region 2 director and that region consists of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. As our AHS President Julie Covington explains in her welcome message on these pages, each director is assigned to serve as chair of a committee.

Some of you may remember me as the 2008-2011 AHS Exhibitions chair and from working with me on your flower shows or on certificates of insurance for club events. As you can imagine, it was a most enjoyable work area since it allowed close contact with our local daylily clubs’ officers, show chairs, and show-committee chairs.

In 2012 I will serve as chair of the Regional Officers Committee. It seems that I have been around AHS in a few jobs over the years, for example, as Region 2 editor in 1999-2000, 2003-05, RPD in 2001-02, as RVP (now called RP) in 2005-06, and as AHS International Membership (special) chair from 2000-06.

So many things have changed over the years, but keeping the communications channel between club members, regional leaders, and board members working smoothly and efficiently is a most important AHS goal.

Making printed information readily available to all regional leaders is one goal that has now been reached. For example, there will be a Regional Officers Forum that will serve all regional presidents, regional publicity directors, regional secretaries, regional treasurers, and regional editors. The goal of that Forum will be for interested members to help each other by exchanging ideas and sharing experiences of what practices work and what practices can be improved. During the first week of serving as Regional Officers Committee chair, several questions and requests for information from regional presidents, treasurers, and secretaries have already arrived.

A new feature, the "Administrative Documents” page on the Portal will provide fairly quick access to the AHS Regional Officers Guidelines (newly revised) along with regional "Job Descriptions at a Glance” that can give some detailed information to AHS members who may be interested in serving at the regional level.

I hope that I will be able to greet you soon on the Regional Officers Forum”! In the meantime, please let me know about any concerns you may have or experiences you may want to share with others.

Greetings from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and best wishes for a wonderful growing and blooming year.           Gisela